Thermal management system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a thermal management system including: a refrigerant circulation line including a refrigerant circulator, a first heat exchanger, a first expander and a third heat exchanger, wherein refrigerant circulates in the refrigerant circulation line; a heating line for heating the interior by circulating cooling water exchanging heat with the refrigerant through the first heat exchanger; and a cooling line for cooling heating sources by exchanging heat between the cooling water and air or exchanging heat between the cooling water and the refrigerant.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/164,878 filed on Oct. 19, 2018, which claims the benefit and priorityof KR 10-2017-0147012 filed Nov. 7, 2017 and KR 10-2017-0172837 filedDec. 15, 2017. The entire disclosures of each of the above applicationsare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a thermal management system, and moreparticularly, to a thermal management system capable of managing heat ofelectronic parts and a battery in a vehicle as well as providing coolingand heating performance.

Background Art

Recently, electric vehicles are drawing attention as an eco-friendlytechnology and as a solution to solve a problem of exhaustion of energyin the automotive field. Electric vehicles are small in carbon emissionand are quiet because moving by a motor driven by electric powerreceived from a battery or a fuel cell. Moreover, the electric vehiclesare eco-friendly since using the motor which is more improved in energyefficiency than the existing engines.

However, such electric vehicles are important in thermal managementsince using batteries and motors which are severe in heat generation,and are also important in efficient management of used time of thebatteries since it takes so long time to recharge the batteries.Especially, such electric vehicles are also important in management ofused time of the batteries since a compressor operated forair-conditioning of the interior of the vehicle is also operated byelectric power.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve theabove-mentioned problems occurring in the prior arts, and it is anobject of the present invention to provide a thermal management systemcapable of managing heat of electronic parts and a battery in a vehicleas well as providing cooling and heating performance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a thermalmanagement system capable of increasing used time of a battery byreducing an amount of electricity consumption.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a thermalmanagement system having refrigerant and cooling water lines with simplestructures.

To accomplish the above object, according to the present invention,there is provided a thermal management system including: a refrigerantcirculation line including a refrigerant circulator, a first heatexchanger, a first expander, and a third heat exchanger, whereinrefrigerant circulates in the refrigerant circulation line; a heatingline for heating the interior by circulating cooling water exchangingheat with the refrigerant through the first heat exchanger; and acooling line for cooling heating sources by exchanging heat between thecooling water and air or exchanging heat between the cooling water andthe refrigerant.

Moreover, the heating line and the cooling line are connected with eachother and blocked from each other according to an interior cooling modeand an interior heating mode. The heating line and the cooling line areconnected with each other in the interior cooling mode. The heating lineand the cooling line are blocked from each other in the interior heatingmode. The heating line and the cooling line are connected into a serialline. The cooling line includes: a first connection line branching offfrom one side of the cooling line and being connected with the heatingline; and a second connection line branching off from the other side ofthe cooling line and being connected with the heating line. The firstconnection line, the second connection line, and the heating line areconnected with one another or blocked from one another by one coolingwater direction changer. When the heating line and the cooling line areconnected with each other, electronic parts are arranged in the firstconnection line and the second connection line in which cooling waterflows from the heating line to the cooling line. When the heating lineand the cooling line are blocked from each other, the electronic partsare connected to the cooling line by the first connection line and thesecond connection line to be cooled by the cooling water. Therefrigerant circulation line includes: a first expander for throttlingthe refrigerant discharged from the first heat exchanger or making therefrigerant bypass; and a second heat exchanger for exchanging heatbetween the refrigerant discharged from the first expander and air todischarge the refrigerant to the second expander. The refrigerantcirculation line includes: a third expander for throttling therefrigerant discharged from the first heat exchanger, making therefrigerant bypass or blocking a flow of the refrigerant; and a fourthheat exchanger for exchanging heat between the refrigerant dischargedfrom the third expander and the cooling water of the cooling line. Theheating sources are cooled by the cooling water heat-exchanged with thefourth heat exchanger. The cooling line includes: a sixth heat exchangerfor cooling the cooling water by air; and a heating source cooled by thecooling water cooled by the sixth heat exchanger or the cooling watercooled by the fourth heat exchanger. The fourth heat exchanger and theheating source are connected in series or in parallel by the coolingline. The heating line includes: a fifth heat exchanger for heating theinterior by exchanging heat between the cooling water, which exchangesheat with the refrigerant through the first heat exchanger, and the airintroduced into the interior; and an electric heater arranged at thefront end of the fifth heat exchanger to heat the cooling water.

According to the present invention, the thermal management system canincrease used time of the battery by reducing an amount of electricityconsumption, and reduce maintenance costs and manufacturing costs due tosimple structures of the refrigerant line and the cooling water line.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following detailed description ofthe preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a configurative diagram of a thermal management systemaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are views showing an interior cooling mode of the thermalmanagement system according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIGS. 4 to 6 are views showing an interior heating mode of the thermalmanagement system according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In order to fully understand the present invention, exemplaryembodiments of the invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present invention may bemodified in many different forms and the scope of the invention shouldnot be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the drawings, the shapes and dimensions may beexaggerated for clarity, and the same reference numerals will be usedthroughout to designate the same or like components. A detailedexplanation of known related functions and constitutions may be omittedto avoid unnecessarily obscuring the subject matter of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 is a configurative diagram of a thermal management systemaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the thermal management system includes arefrigerant circulation line 200 in which refrigerant circulates and acooling water circulation line 300 in which cooling water circulates.

The refrigerant includes a refrigerant circulator 210, first to fourthheat exchangers 220, 230, 242 and 252, first to third expanders 225, 240and 251, and an accumulator 260. The components will be described indetail as follows.

The refrigerant circulator 210 serves as a heart for circulatingrefrigerant in the refrigerant circulation line 200. As an example, therefrigerant circulator 210 may be an electronic compressor. Hereinafter,the refrigerant circulator and the electronic compressor will bedescribed with the reference numeral 210. The electronic compressorwhich is the refrigerant circulator 210 receives electric power andcompresses and discharges the refrigerant, and is divided into a scrolltype, a swash type, a rotary type, and a wobble type according to acompression form. In this embodiment, the electronic compressor mayadopt all types regardless of the compression form of the compressor.

The first to fourth heat exchangers 220, 230, 242 and 252 serve toexchange heat with other medium, for instance, cooling water or air.Moreover, the first to third expanders 225, 240 and 251 serve tothrottle or bypass refrigerant or block a flow of the refrigerant.

The first heat exchanger 220 serves as a condenser in the refrigerantcirculation line 200. That is, the first heat exchanger 220 receivesrefrigerant of high temperature and high pressure discharged from therefrigerant circulator 210, and then, exchanges heat with cooling waterto lower temperature of the refrigerant.

The first expander 225 is arranged between the first heat exchanger 220and the second heat exchanger 230 to throttle or bypass the refrigerant.For this, the first expander 225 may adopt the form that an orifice anda bypass connected with a front/rear end of the orifice are combinedwith each other, a thermal expansion valve (TXV), or an electronicexpansion valve (EXV). The second expander 240 varies its functionaccording to that the refrigerant circulation line 200 is used as an airconditioner loop or a heat pump loop. The second expander 240 bypassesthe refrigerant if the refrigerant circulation line 200 is used as theair conditioner loop, and throttles and passes the refrigerant if therefrigerant circulation line 200 is used as a heat pump loop.

The second heat exchanger 230 in connection with the first expander 225serves as a condenser or an evaporator in the refrigerant circulationline 200. For this, the second heat exchanger 230 may be designed tohave a structure to exchange heat between air and refrigerant. Thesecond heat exchanger 230 may vary its function according to the role ofthe first expander 225. That is, the second heat exchanger 230 serves asa condenser together with the first heat exchanger 220 if the firstexpander 225 bypasses the refrigerant (air conditioner loop), and servesas an evaporator if the first expander 225 throttles the refrigerant(heat pump loop).

The second expander 240 is arranged between the second and third heatexchangers 230 and 242 to throttle or bypass the refrigerant. For this,the second expander 240 may adopt the form that an orifice and a bypassconnected with a front/rear end of the orifice are combined with eachother, a thermal expansion valve (TXV), or an electronic expansion valve(EXV). The second expander 240 varies its function according to that therefrigerant circulation line 200 is used as the air conditioner loop orthe heat pump loop. The second expander 240 throttles and passes therefrigerant if the refrigerant circulation line 200 is used as the airconditioner loop, and bypasses or blocks the refrigerant if therefrigerant circulation line 200 is used as the heat pump loop.

The third heat exchanger 242 is disposed in the air conditioner 150, forinstance, may be an air conditioner for a vehicle (HVAC) and serves asan evaporator. For this, the third heat exchanger 242 is designed tohave a structure to exchange heat between the air supplied to theinterior and the refrigerant. Moreover, the third heat exchanger 242serves as an evaporator if the refrigerant circulation line 200 is anair conditioner loop, and serves as an evaporator or a refrigerant flowpath (bypass, in this instance, the third heat exchanger 242 also servesas the evaporator when serving as the bypass) if the refrigerantcirculation line 200 is a heat pump loop. Here, the case that therefrigerant circulation line 200 is the heat pump loop means that indoorheating is required since outdoor temperature is low. In this instance,the evaporator serves as a dehumidifier. Therefore, the third heatexchanger 242 serves as an evaporator for dehumidification and serves asthe refrigerant flow path if the refrigerant circulation line 200 is theheat pump loop. Furthermore, the air conditioner 150 includes atemperature adjusting door 151.

The third expander 251 is arranged between the second heat exchanger 230and the fourth heat exchanger 252 to throttle or bypass the refrigerant.For this, the third expander 251 may adopt the form that an orifice anda bypass connected with a front/rear end of the orifice are combinedwith each other, a thermal expansion valve (TXV), or an electronicexpansion valve (EXV). The third expander 251 throttles and passes therefrigerant when cooling of cooling water is required, but bypasses therefrigerant or blocks circulation of the refrigerant if there is no needto cool the cooling water.

The fourth heat exchanger 252 linked with the third expander 251 servesas a chiller in the refrigerant circulation line 200. For this, thefourth heat exchanger 252 may be designed to have a structure toexchange heat between air and refrigerant.

The accumulator 260 is arranged between the third and fourth heatexchangers 242 and 252 and the refrigerant circulator 210 to separateliquid-phase refrigerant from gas-phase refrigerant and transfer onlythe gas-phase refrigerant to the refrigerant circulator 210.

The cooling water circulation line 300 includes a heating line 301 forindoor heating and a battery 350, or a cooling line 302 for coolingelectronic parts 460.

In this instance, the heating line 301 includes an electric heater 430,a fifth heat exchanger 440, a cooling water circulator 450, and a firstdirection changer 420.

The electric heater 430 is a device for heating cooling water, and isconnected with a discharge terminal of the first heat exchanger 220. Theelectric heater 430 may be an induction heater, a sheath, a PTC heater,or a thin film (TF) heater, which is actuated when temperature ofcooling water heated by the first heat exchanger 220 or the battery 350and the electronic parts 460 is less than a predetermined value.

The fifth heat exchanger 440 is disposed inside the air conditioner 150and serves as a heater core. That is, the fifth heat exchanger 440exchanges heat between the cooling water and the air supplied to theinterior to heat the interior.

The cooling water circulator 450 is a device for circulating coolingwater, and may have a pump shape. A cooling water circulation directionof the cooling water circulator 450 is decided according to a connectiondirection of the electric heater 430 and the fifth heat exchanger 440.The cooling water circulator 450 is actuated in such a way that coolingwater faces the fifth heat exchanger 440 after passing the electricheater 430. Therefore, as shown in the drawing, cooling water moves inthe opposite direction of the fifth heat exchanger 440 when the coolingwater circulator 450 is at a rear end of the fifth heat exchanger 440,and moves in the direction of the electric heater 430 when the coolingwater circulator 450 is at the front end of the electric heater 430.

The first direction changer 420 serves to selectively connect or blockthe heating line 301 and the cooling line 302. For this, the firstdirection changer 420 may be a four-way valve. The selective connectionof the first direction changer 420 comes from the operation mode of thethermal management system, and it will be described later in detail.

The cooling line 302 includes a battery 350, a sixth heat exchanger 310,a second cooling water circulator 340, and second and third directionchangers 320 and 360. Additionally, the cooling line 302 includes firstto third connection lines 302-1, 302-2 and 302-3, and a third coolingwater circulator 340.

The battery 350 is a power source of the vehicle and is a driving sourceof various electronic parts in the vehicle. According to circumstances,the battery 350 is connected with a fuel cell to store electric power orto store electric power supplied from the outside.

The sixth heat exchanger 310 serves as a radiator to cool cooling water.That is, the sixth heat exchanger 310 exchanges heat between the coolingwater and air to cool the cooling water heated by the battery 350 andthe electronic parts 460. For this, the sixth heat exchanger 310 mayhave a fan 311 to increase an air supply amount. In the meantime, thesecond heat exchanger 230 for exchanging heat between the refrigerantand air may also have the fan 311 to increase efficiency, and in thisinstance, in order to minimize occupation of a space, the second andsixth heat exchangers 230 and 310 are put on another, and then, the fan311 is arranged.

The second cooling water circulator 340 serves to circulate the coolingwater of the cooling line 302, and may have a pump shape.

The second direction changer 320 connects the cooling line 302 and theheating line 301 with each other. The thermal management system connectsor blocks the cooling line 302 and the heating line 301 according to theoperation mode, and in this instance, the first control is carried outby the second direction changer 320, so the cooling line 302 and theheating line 301 are connected or blocked through the first connectionline 302-1. Moreover, since the second direction changer 320 isdifficult to control a flow speed of the cooling water, the thirdcooling water circulator 410 is arranged in the first connection line302-1. In this instance, the second direction changer 320 is a three-wayvalve.

Furthermore, in a state that a passage to move the cooling water of thecooling line 302 to the heating line 301 (the first connection line302-1) is secured, the cooling water of the heating line 301 must bemoved to the cooling line 302 again. For this, the second connectionline 302-2 is disposed. In this instance, the electronic parts 460 arearranged in the second connection line 302-2 so that the electronicparts 460 are cooled by the cooling water.

Finally, the third connection line 302-3 is disposed to be connectedwith the fourth heat exchanger 252 to cool the cooling water, and theconnected state is determined by the third direction changer 360.According to circumstances, the third connection line 302-3 may beomitted, and in this instance, the fourth heat exchanger 252 directlyexchanges heat with the cooling water of the cooling line 302 adjacentto the battery 350.

As described above, the cooling water circulation line 300 according tothis embodiment of the present invention connects or blocks the heatingline 301 for heating the interior and the cooling line 302 for coolingthe battery 350 and the electronic parts 460 according to the operationmode of the thermal management system. The connection and the blockingbetween the heating line 301 and the cooling line 302 are made possibleby the first and second direction changers 420 and 320. Especially,because the first direction changer 420 is a four-way valve forconnecting and blocking the heating line 301 and the first and secondconnection lines 302-1 and 302-2, the heating line 301 and the coolingline 302 can be easily connected and blocked through the simplestructure. Additionally, the number of the direction changers forchanging a flow of the cooling water may be reduced.

Hereinafter, operations of the thermal management system according tooperation modes will be described.

1. Indoor Cooling—when Cooling Load is Small (for Instance, in Springand Fall)

FIG. 2 is a view showing an interior cooling mode of the thermalmanagement system.

In the interior cooling mode, the refrigerant circulator 210 isactuated. Since cooling load is small, the refrigerant circulator 210 isactuated at low RPM. It means that power consumption is reduced.Continuously, refrigerant of high temperature and high pressure isdischarged according to operation of the refrigerant circulator 210, andthe refrigerant exchanges heat with the cooling water in the first heatexchanger 220 to be cooled. Next, the first expander 225 makes therefrigerant bypass to be transferred to the second heat exchanger 230,and the second heat exchanger 230 exchanges heat between the refrigerantand air to be cooled more. That is, the first and second heat exchangers220 and 230 serve as a condenser to condense the refrigerant.

Continuously, the second expander 240 throttles the refrigerant, and thethird heat exchanger 242 evaporates the refrigerant to cool theinterior. Moreover, the third expander 251 blocks a flow of therefrigerant to prevent the refrigerant from flowing to the fourth heatexchanger 252. After that, the refrigerant passes through theaccumulator 260, and then, is transferred to the refrigerant circulator210 to repeat the above circulation.

Meanwhile, the cooling water is circulated by the cooling watercirculators 340, 410 and 450 to be heated by absorbing heat of thebattery 350, the electronic parts 460 and the first heat exchanger 220.On the contrary, the battery 350, the electronic parts 460, and therefrigerant of the first heat exchanger 220 are cooled by the coolingwater. In this instance, the first direction changer 420 circulates thecooling water in the direction to connect the heating line 301 and thecooling line 302, so that heating sources, such as the battery 350, theelectronic parts 460 and the first heat exchanger 220, are connected bythe cooling water. That is, the first direction changer 420 simplifiesthe cooling water line to induce the flow of the cooling water in thedirection to increase cooling efficiency of the heating sources 350, 460and 220.

The heated cooling water is cooled by exchanging heat with the air inthe sixth heat exchanger 310, and then, is transferred to the battery350, the electronic parts 460 and the first heat exchanger 220 to coolthe battery 350 and the electronic parts 460. After that, the aboveprocess is repeated.

Summing up, interior cooling is achieved through the air conditionerloop formed by the refrigerant circulator 210, the first heat exchanger220 serving as a condenser, the second heat exchanger 230, the secondexpander 240, and the third heat exchanger 242 serving as an evaporatorin order. In this instance, condensation of the refrigerant is carriedout twice (water cooling and air cooling) to enhance efficiency.Furthermore, the heating sources, namely, the battery 350 and theelectronic parts 460, are cooled by air cooling through the radiator310. As described above, the heating sources 350 and 460, especially,the battery 350, are cooled by air cooling due to small cooling load. Inthis instance, because the fourth heat exchanger 252 doesn't have to beoperated, refrigerant load gets less, so RPM of the refrigerantcirculator 210 may be lowered. That is, as described above, powerconsumption is reduced.

2. Indoor Cooling—when Cooling Load is Large (for Instance, in Summer)

FIG. 3 is a view showing an interior cooling mode of the thermalmanagement system like FIG. 1 . In this instance, description ofduplicate contents compared with the description of FIG. 2 will beomitted.

In the interior cooling mode, the refrigerant circulator 210 isactuated. Since cooling load is large, the refrigerant circulator 210 isactuated at high RPM. Continuously, refrigerant of high temperature andhigh pressure is discharged according to operation of the refrigerantcirculator 210, and the refrigerant exchanges heat with the coolingwater in the first heat exchanger 220 to be cooled. Next, the firstexpander 225 makes the refrigerant bypass to be transferred to thesecond heat exchanger 230, and the second heat exchanger 230 exchangesheat between the refrigerant and air to be cooled more. That is, thefirst and second heat exchangers 220 and 230 serve as a condenser tocondense the refrigerant.

Continuously, the second expander 240 throttles the refrigerant, and thethird heat exchanger 242 evaporates the refrigerant to cool theinterior. Moreover, the third expander 251 blocks a flow of therefrigerant to prevent the refrigerant throttles the refrigerant, andthe fourth heat exchanger 252 exchanges heat between the refrigerant andthe cooling water. That is, the fourth heat exchanger 252 cools thecooling water by the refrigerant. After that, the refrigerant passesthrough the accumulator 260, and then, is transferred to the refrigerantcirculator 210 to repeat the above circulation.

Meanwhile, the cooling water is circulated by the second cooling watercirculator 340 the third cooling water circulator 410 and the coolingwater circulator 450 to be heated by absorbing heat of the battery 350,the electronic parts 460 and the first heat exchanger 220. On thecontrary, the battery 350, the electronic parts 460, and the refrigerantof the first heat exchanger 220 are cooled by the cooling water. In thisinstance, the cooling line 302 is divided into a first cooling line forcooling the refrigerant of the electronic parts 460 and the first heatexchanger 220 and a second cooling water line for cooling the battery350 by the second and third direction changers 320 and 360. It iseffective to use refrigerant to cool cooling water, but if all heatingsources 350, 460 and 220 are cooled by refrigerant, load is applied tothe refrigerant, and it has a bad influence on interior cooling. Inorder to prevent it, only the battery 350 is cooled by the refrigerant,and the rest heating sources 460 and 220 are cooled by the radiator,which is the sixth heat exchanger 310.

Summing up, interior cooling is achieved through the air conditionerloop formed by the refrigerant circulator 210, the first heat exchanger220 serving as a condenser, the second heat exchanger 230, the secondexpander 240, and the third heat exchanger 242 serving as an evaporatorin order. Moreover, cooling of the electronic parts 460 among theheating sources is achieved by air cooling through the radiator 310, andcooling of the battery 350 is achieved by the refrigerant through thechiller 252.

3. Interior Heating

FIGS. 4 to 6 are views showing an interior heating mode of the thermalmanagement system according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In this instance, description of duplicate contents comparedwith the description of FIG. 2 and will be omitted.

First, referring to FIG. 4 , the refrigerant circulator 210 is actuatedat intermediate RPM because of interior heating. Continuously, when therefrigerant circulator 210 is actuated, refrigerant of high temperatureand high pressure is discharged, and the refrigerant is cooled byexchanging heat with cooling water in the first heat exchanger 220. Onthe contrary, the cooling water is heated by the refrigerant of thefirst heat exchanger 220. Continuously, the first expander 225 throttlesthe refrigerant, and the second heat exchanger 230 evaporates therefrigerant. That is, the first heat exchanger 220 serves as acondenser, and the second heat exchanger 230 serves as an evaporator.

Continuously, the second expander 240 blocks the refrigerant flowing tothe third heat exchanger 242 because interior heating does not requirethe third heat exchanger 242 used as the evaporator. Moreover, the thirdexpander 251 makes the refrigerant bypass to transfer the refrigerant tothe fourth heat exchanger 252. The refrigerant is heated by absorbingheat of the cooling water in the fourth heat exchanger 252. After that,the refrigerant passes through the accumulator 260, and then, istransferred to the refrigerant circulator 210 to repeat the abovecirculation.

In the meantime, the heating line 301 and the cooling line 302 formclosed loops by the first and second direction changers 420 and 320. Theheating line 301 transfers the cooling water heated by the first heatexchanger 220 to the fifth heat exchanger 440 to heat the interior. Thatis, the heating line 301 heats the interior using the cooling waterreceiving heat from the refrigerant of high temperature. If temperatureof the heat received from the refrigerant is not sufficient, the coolingwater may be heated using the electric heater 430. The cooling line 302is the closed loop for connecting the battery 350 and the electronicparts 460, and uses the electronic parts 460 as a heating source forwarming up the battery 350. In this instance, cooling water does notflow to the sixth heat exchanger 310, so the fan 311 is not actuated andpower consumption is reduced. In this instance, because heating of theinterior means that outdoor temperature is low and that it is notnecessary to have means for cooling the battery 350, the sixth heatexchanger 310 and the fan 311 are not used. However, under circumstancesrequiring interior heating but having outdoor temperature which is notlow like early winter or late spring, the sixth heat exchanger 310 andthe fan 311 may be used to cool the cooling water of the cooling line302.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5 , according to temperature of thebattery 350, the third direction changer 360 and the second coolingwater circulator 340 are controlled to block the flow of the coolingwater of the battery 350 and the electronic parts 460 or to reduce theflow velocity of the cooling water. That is, because the second coolingwater circulator 340 is not actuated, power consumption is reduced.Because temperature of the battery is not sufficiently high, under acondition that it is difficult to utilize waste heat of the battery, inan air-conditioning mode, the flow of the cooling water toward thebattery 350 is blocked.

Summing up, interior heating uses the cooling water heated by therefrigerant of high temperature. Additionally, interior heating may beachieved by heating the cooling water by the electric heater 430. Therefrigerant circulation line 200 has the structure to be operated by aheat pump, but interior heating is achieved not by the refrigerant butby the cooling water. Therefore, the second heat exchanger 230 and thefirst expander 225 in the refrigerant circulation line 200 may bedeleted according to circumstances.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the interior heating mode in mild weather. Asshown in FIG. 6 , the refrigerant circulator 210 does not actuate. Thatis, in the interior heating mode, refrigerant does not flow in therefrigerant circulation line 200. Therefore, the refrigerant circulator210 does not actuate, so power consumption may be reduced. All lines ofthe cooling water circulation line 300 except the cooling line 302directing to the sixth heat exchanger 310 and the third connection line302-3 are connected to circulate the cooling water.

Heating sources for interior heating are the battery 350 and theelectronic parts 460. Because it is not necessary to raise thetemperature of the interior in mild weather, heating is available justby the battery 350 and the electronic parts 460. For additional heating,the electric heater 430 may be actuated.

Moreover, the battery 350 is warmed up by the electronic parts 460. Iftemperature of the electronic parts 460 does not sufficiently raisetemperature of the battery 350, the electric heater 430 is actuated towarm up the battery 350. Warming up of the battery may increase chargingefficiency when the battery is charged.

Summing up, in the mild weather, the interior is heated just by thecooling water heated by waste heat of the battery 350 and the electronicparts 460 without any flow of the refrigerant. Because the refrigerantcirculator 210 is not actuated, power consumption is low.

Furthermore, because the battery 350 is warmed up by the electronicparts 460 or the electric heater 430, it increases an early operationperformance of the battery 350.

Finally, the thermal management system according to this embodiment hasthe structure to simplify the complicated refrigerant line forperforming not only cooling but also heating (heat pump) and thecomplicated cooling water line by various heating sources, such as theelectronic parts and the battery, and the cooling sources, such as theradiator, the fan, and the chiller. Moreover, the thermal managementsystem is utilized for cooling and heating by properly exchanging heatbetween the refrigerant and the cooling water, and is also utilized forcooling the heating sources.

The thermal management system can reduce power consumption by properlyblocking power supply to power consumption sources, such as a compressorand a cooling water pump, according to outdoor temperature in order toenhance the mileage of an electric vehicle. Furthermore, the thermalmanagement system can reduce power consumption through the structure torecover waste heat of the heating sources.

The embodiments of the thermal management system as described above areonly the example. Therefore, it will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments arepossible from the present invention. Therefore, it may be appreciatedthat the present invention is not limited to the forms mentioned in theabove detailed description. For instance, the accumulator 260 describedin this embodiment may be substituted for a receiver drier arrangedbetween the first heat exchanger 220, which is a condenser, and thefirst expander 225.

Additionally, in the refrigerant circulation line 200, the second heatexchanger 230 and the first expander 225 may be deleted in some cases.That is, if the refrigerant can be condensed sufficiently by the firstheat exchanger 220, the refrigerant circulation line 200 may be simplyformed by a compressor, a condenser, an expander, and an evaporator.Accordingly, the actual technical protection scope of the presentinvention must be determined by the spirit of the appended claims.Further, it is to be construed that the present invention includes allthe changes, equivalents, and substitutions which are defined in theappending claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A thermal management system for a vehicle,comprising: a refrigerant circulation line for circulating arefrigerant, the refrigerant circulation line extending along arefrigerant circulator, a first heat exchanger, a first expander and asecond heat exchanger; a cooling water circulation line for circulatingcooling water including a cooling line for cooling heating sources byexchanging heat between the cooling water and air or exchanging heatbetween the cooling water and the refrigerant, and a heating line forheating an interior of the vehicle by circulating cooling water andexchanging heat between the cooling water and the refrigerant passingthrough the first heat exchanger, wherein the heating sources arecomprised of electronic parts and a battery; a first direction changermounted along the heating line and the cooling line and configured toconnect the cooling line to the heating line or block the cooling linefrom the heating line according to an interior cooling mode or aninterior heating mode; and a second direction changer and a thirddirection changer selectively dividing the cooling line into a firstcooling line extending along the electronic parts and the first heatexchanger, and a second cooling line extending along the battery;wherein in the interior cooling mode, the heating line and the coolingline are connected with each other via the second and third directionchangers; wherein when a cooling load is small in the interior coolingmode, the heating line, the first cooling line and the second coolingline are connected with one another, and when a cooling load is large inthe interior cooling mode, the heating line and the first cooling lineare connected with each other while the second cooling line is blockedfrom the heating line and the first cooling line to form an independentline such that the battery and electronic parts are on respectivecooling circuits from one another.
 2. The thermal management systemaccording to claim 1, wherein a third heat exchanger is mounted alongthe first cooling line connected with the heating line to exchange heatwith air.
 3. The thermal management system according to claim 1, whereinthe second cooling line exchanges heat through a third heat exchangermounted along the refrigerant circulation line.
 4. The thermalmanagement system according to claim 1, wherein in a scenario in whichthe refrigerant circulator is not operated, heating is carried out onlyusing the heating sources.
 5. The thermal management system according toclaim 4, wherein the heating sources further include an electric heateris operated for additional heating.
 6. The thermal management systemaccording to claim 1, wherein in the interior heating mode, each of theheating line and the cooling line has a closed loop, wherein therefrigerant circulation line is mounted with a third heat exchangerwhich exchanges heat with the cooling water, and wherein the coolingline passes along the battery and the electronic parts as heatingsources.
 7. The thermal management system according to claim 6, whereinif a temperature of the battery is high, the cooling water flows throughthe battery and the electronic parts along the cooling line.
 8. Thethermal management system according to claim 6, wherein if a temperatureof the battery is low, the cooling water flows only through theelectronic parts along the cooling line.
 9. The thermal managementsystem according to claim 6, wherein the second and third directionchangers are configured to selectively control whether the cooling waterpasses through the battery or is blocked from the battery.
 10. Thethermal management system according to claim 1, wherein the cooling linecomprises: a first connection line branching off from one side of thecooling line and being connected with the heating line; and a secondconnection line branching off from the other side of the cooling lineand being connected with the heating line.
 11. The thermal managementsystem according to claim 10, wherein the first connection line, thesecond connection line, and the heating line are connected with oneanother or blocked from one another by the first direction changer. 12.The thermal management system according to claim 10, wherein when theheating line and the cooling line are connected with each other,electronic parts are arranged in the first connection line and thesecond connection line in which cooling water flows from the heatingline to the cooling line.
 13. The thermal management system according toclaim 12, wherein when the heating line and the cooling line are blockedfrom each other, the electronic parts are connected to the cooling lineby the first connection line and the second connection line to be cooledby the cooling water.
 14. A thermal management system for a vehicle,comprising: a refrigerant circulation line for circulating arefrigerant, wherein the refrigerant circulation line extends along arefrigerant circulator, a first heat exchanger and a first expander; acooling water circulation line for circulating cooling water, thecooling water circulation line including a cooling line for coolingheating sources by exchanging heat between the cooling water and air, orexchanging heat between the cooling water and the refrigerant, and aheating line for heating an interior of the vehicle by circulatingcooling water and exchanging heat between the cooling water and therefrigerant passing through the first heat exchanger; a first directionchanger mounted along the heating line and the cooling line andconfigured to selectively connect the cooling line to the heating lineor block the cooling line from the heating line according to an interiorcooling mode or an interior heating mode; a second direction changer anda third direction changer selectively dividing the cooling line into afirst cooling line extending along electronic parts and the first heatexchanger, and a second cooling line extending along a battery; whereinin the interior cooling mode, the heating line and the cooling line areconnected with each other via the second and third direction changers,and wherein when a cooling load is small in the interior cooling mode,the heating line, the first cooling line and the second cooling line areconnected with one another, and when the cooling load is large in theinterior cooling mode, the heating line and the first cooling line areconnected with each other while the second cooling line is blocked fromthe heating line to form an independent line such that the battery andelectronic parts are on respective cooling circuits from one another.